Mets potential manager candidate: Joe Maddon
One manager who has had success with the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs, it’s Joe Maddon. He had a low payroll in Tampa Bay, but he was always able to push the right buttons and make life miserable for the Yankees and Boston Red Sox during his tenure there.
His out-of-the-box shifts caused opponents hitters to take a different approach and in his eight seasons with the Rays, he brought them to the playoffs four times, including a trip to the 2008 World Series against the Phillies where they lost in five games. He went to Chicago and ended the Cubs’ postseason curse in 2016 when they beat the Cleveland Indians in seven games.
He struggled with the Los Angeles Angels, but in reality, who has had success with them? Maddon was fired in 2022 after they started the season 27-29, but it wasn’t his fault. Mike Scioscia spent 18 years there, and won one World Series in 2002, but never was able to get a franchise that tends to spend the prime years of their stars making wrong front-office decisions.
There is no denying that he is still a good manager and is someone who has success thinking outside the box. He broke the Cubs curse, who is to say he couldn’t turn around a struggling team loaded with talent over the second half of the season?